Kilo Lingo
Mandarin grammar Part of Chapter 26

CEFR B1-B2

4 min read

Test yourself (17 questions)

Mandarin Spoken Passives: 让 (ràng), 叫 (jiào) and 给 (gěi)

By Michael McGettrick and Wee Khang LinUpdated 12 October 2026

(wǒ de qián ràng tā názǒu le): he took my money. In speech, Mandarin often swaps (bèi) for (ràng), (jiào) or (gěi). The shape is the 被 (bèi) passive you know, with two new rules: and must name the doer, and each word has a day job.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Pick the sentence that says what the English says.

  1. Someone has stolen my car.

  2. He took my money (said to a friend).

  3. He didn't take my money.

The whole system on one screen

The colours stay the same all page long:

被 bèi, 让 ràng, 叫 jiào, 给 gěi (the passive word)the result (走了, 破了, 了…)没 méi (before the passive word)What do the colours mean?
Thing affected
Passive word
Doer
Verb + result
HanziPinyinEnglish
。Wǒ de qián bèi tā názǒu le.He took my money
。Wǒ de qián ràng tā názǒu le.Same, in everyday speech
。Wǒ de qián jiào tā názǒu le.Same, colloquial
。Wǒ de qián gěi tā názǒu le.Same, casual

All four mean the same; what changes is how they sound:

Fine in writingCasual speech
  1. 被 bèi: speech and writing
  2. 让 ràng: everyday speech
  3. 叫 jiào or 给 gěi: casual speech

(bèi) works in conversation too, and in formal writing it is the one to use. Like , all three mostly report something unwelcome: theft, damage, a telling-off.

让 (ràng) and 叫 (jiào): name the doer

被 bèi, 让 ràng, 叫 jiào, 给 gěi (the passive word)the result (走了, 破了, 了…)What do the colours mean?

(ràng) is the everyday spoken passive. (jiào) does the same job and sounds more colloquial; it is heard mostly in the north, and many southern and Taiwan speakers use (bèi) or (gěi) instead:

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Dàngāo ràng dìdi chī le.My little brother ate the cake
。Wǒ de chē ràng rén tōu le.Someone's stolen my car
。Bēizi jiào dìdi dǎpò le.My little brother broke the cup
。Wǒ de shǒujī jiào rén tōu le.Someone's stolen my phone

The one hard rule: after (ràng) or (jiào) a doer must follow. (bèi) can drop it; these two cannot. When nobody knows who did it, the doer is (rén), someone:

WrongRightWhy
。。 (ràng) needs a doer: (rén)
。。or switch to (bèi), which can drop it

Without a doer, (ràng) reads as its day job, "let": (dàngāo ràng chī le) sounds like "we're allowed to eat the cake now".

给 (gěi): casual, and the doer can go

被 bèi, 让 ràng, 叫 jiào, 给 gěi (the passive word)the result (走了, 破了, 了…)What do the colours mean?

(gěi) is the casual one. Like (bèi), and unlike (ràng) and (jiào), it can leave the doer out:

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Bēizi gěi tā dǎpò le.He broke the cup
。Wǒ de shǒujī gěi nònghuài le.My phone's got broken

(gěi) can also follow (bèi) or (ràng), straight before the verb. It adds no meaning, only a feeling, much like English "went and":

  • 。 (Bēizi bèi tā gěi dǎpò le.) - He went and broke the cup.
  • 。 (Wǒ de qián ràng tā gěi názǒu le.) - He went and took my money.

The verb needs a result, and 没 (méi) goes first

被 bèi, 让 ràng, 叫 jiào, 给 gěi (the passive word)the result (走了, 破了, 了…)没 méi (before the passive word)What do the colours mean?

The rules of (bèi) carry over. The verb needs a result or (le); without one, (ràng) slips back to "let":

HanziPinyinReads as
。Wǒ de qián ràng tā ná.Let him take my money
。Wǒ de qián ràng tā názǒu le.He took my money (passive)

To say it did not happen, (méi) goes before the passive word and the final (le) drops. Use (bèi) for this: (méi ràng) can be a passive too, but it can also be heard as "didn't let":

HanziPinyinReads as
。Wǒ de qián méi bèi tā názǒu.He didn't take my money
。Wǒ de qián méi ràng tā názǒu.He didn't take it, or I didn't let him

Passive or day job?

All three words are busy elsewhere, which is why the same string can be read two ways:

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Tā ràng wǒ zǒu.He let me go
。Māma jiào wǒ huíjiā.Mum told me to come home
。Wǒ gěi tā yì běn shū.I give him a book

Two questions settle almost every case:

  1. Could the thing at the front do the verb? Money cannot take anything, so in (wǒ de qián ràng tā názǒu le) the money is the one affected: passive.
  2. Does the verb end in a result? (názǒu le) does; the bare (zǒu) of (tā ràng wǒ zǒu) does not.

The other side of (ràng) is on causatives.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
。。 (ràng) needs a doer
。。 (méi) goes before the passive word

What to do next

  1. Do the drill below.
  2. Grumble about three small disasters to a friend, with (ràng): (wǒ de sǎn ràng rén názǒu le).
  3. Then read the 被 (bèi) passive again, or causatives for as "make" and "let".

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/6

Is it a passive, or the word's day job (let, tell, give)?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/3

Pick the sentence that says what the English says.

  1. Someone has stolen my car.

  2. He took my money (said to a friend).

  3. He didn't take my money.

Spot the mistake

0/2

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

  1. wǒ de chē jiào tōu le 。

  2. wǒ de qián bèi tā méi ná zǒu 。

Put the words in order

0/2

Put the words in order. The thing affected comes first.

  1. He took my money (said to a friend).

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. He went and broke the cup.

    Your sentence is empty.

Matching

0/4

Match each sentence to its English.

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Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of (bèi) in spoken Mandarin?
(ràng), (jiào) or (gěi): (wǒ de qián ràng tā názǒu le), he took my money. is the everyday choice, is colloquial and mostly northern, and is casual. is fine in speech too, and it is the one for formal writing.
Do (ràng) and (jiào) passives need the doer?
Yes. (bèi) can drop it, as in (wǒ de chē bèi tōu le), my car's been stolen. and cannot, so when nobody knows who did it, put in (rén), someone: (wǒ de chē ràng rén tōu le).
Can (gěi) be a passive without a doer?
Yes, in casual speech: (wǒ de shǒujī gěi nònghuài le), my phone's got broken. can also follow or straight before the verb, adding a 'went and' feeling: (bēizi bèi tā gěi dǎpò le), he went and broke the cup.
How do I tell a (ràng) passive from meaning 'let'?
Ask whether the thing at the front could do the verb, and whether the verb has a result. In (wǒ de qián ràng tā názǒu le) money cannot take anything and is a result: passive. (tā ràng wǒ zǒu), he let me go, is the day job.
How do I say a spoken passive in the negative?
Put (méi) before the marker, as with (bèi), but prefer itself: (wǒ de qián méi bèi tā názǒu), he didn't take my money. With , the negative can also be heard as 'I didn't let him take it'.